Press releases

The first case of the new coronavirus in Greece’s biggest refugee camp highlights the need for immediate and radical changes from the Greek government and its EU partners to the reception of people seeking asylum in Europe.

The first confirmed case of COVID-19 has been reported in the refugee camp of Moria in Lesbos, Greece. The Greek government and its EU partners must immediately take urgent action to avoid a health tragedy in the camp.

Hospitals and Palestinians in Gaza, one of the most densely populated places on the planet, are bracing for the Coronavirus pandemic with only three to four hours of electricity per day, as fuel entry restriction by Israel, has forced Gaza’s single electricity plant to shut down and compounded the risk of infection for two million Palestinians, Oxfam warned today. 

The 21 billionaires in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), all of them men, saw their wealth increase by nearly $10 billion since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, almost double the estimated amount required to rebuild Lebanon's shattered capital, while 45 million more people in the region could be pushed to poverty as a result of the pandemic, a new Oxfam report revealed today.

Medical and water infrastructure in Yemen has been hit during air raids almost 200 times since the conflict escalated more than five years ago, as the country continues to battle its outbreak of COVID-19.

Today the tally of COVID-19 deaths has surpassed 100,000 in Brazil ―the second country in the world to do so after the United States― with many of these deaths avoidable but for the Brazilian government’s inefficient and disoriented response to the pandemic.

Oxfam is working with local partners to assess how it can help those who have lost their homes and livelihoods in the Beirut explosion. 

Oxfam expresses its profound sadness and condolences to Cecilia Mérida and the communities of Huehuetenango in Guatemala for the death of Rubén Herrera, a community leader, human rights defender, activist, and friend of many. 

Thousands of people in Yemen could be dying from undetected cases of cholera because COVID-19 has overwhelmed the country’s health facilities and people are too frightened to seek treatment for fear of the virus, Oxfam said today.

The number of coronavirus cases in Yemen is likely to peak in the coming weeks while the heaviest rains are expected in August which could deepen a hidden cholera crisis.

The fortunes of Latin America’s 73 billionaires surged by $48.2 billion since the beginning of the pandemic even as the region buckles as one of the worst-hit regions in the world, said Oxfam today.